DORCHESTER COUNTY ISLANDS, May 29, 2010, Jared Sparks & Harry Armistead. Briefly … I’ll post more detail to MDOSPREY and elsewhere soon:
Holland Island, south segment: Brown Pelican nests: fresh nests with 0 eggs, 4. 1 egg, 17. 2 eggs, 66, 3 eggs in 120 nests. TOTAL: 207 nests. There are also c. 54 Double-crested Cormorant nests whose contents I only recorded in part, plus 16 Herring or Great Black-backed gull nests. No chicks of any of these species.
Holland Island, middle segment: 1 pelican nest with 1 egg; apparently 3 other fresh nests with nothing in them. c. 13 cormorant nests but 185 cormorants in view there simultaneously. 127 gull nests, most of them Herring, 79 with 3 eggs, 27 with 2 eggs, 13 with 1 egg, 8 fresh nests with 0 eggs.
Holland I., north segment: 2 GBBG nests, 1 with 1 egg, the other with 2 fuzzy young plus a pipping egg. No other breeding birds.
The old house is completely surrounded by water now and has collapsed somewhat and is leaning to the SE. The door on its east side is gone and is open to the elements, but the Barn Swallows don’t seem to have availed themselves of this nest site opportunity.
We found 4 Song Sparrows along Fin Creek on Bloodsworth I., 2 on tiny Spring Island, 1 on the S. Holland segment. However, this trip focused on the DCCOs, gulls, and BRPEs and we did not survey the more upland areas, such as of the Holland I. south hammocks. Those I plan to visit in < 2 weeks plus also South Marsh I., and Adam Island.
I was pleased to see Gadwalls at 3 spots.
In order to minimize disturbance of the birds we did not prospect, beachcomb, or prog much, but I did find a Davis O K baking powder bottle and what seems to be a child’s saucer (size of a silver dollar), the likes of which I’ve never seen here before.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead.
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